Railway-crossing.



D. E. HAMMER.y

RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPucATlou man Dic. 13. |911.

v Patented Apr. 2,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A l I atkuwaq D. E. HAMMER.

RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I3. 1911.

luomw D. E. HAMMER RAILWAY CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. I3. 1911.

i,261,519. Patented Apr. 2,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' jf@ L I f5 L DELOS E. HAMMER, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA.

`RAILWAX-cnossincr.` i f Specification of Letters Patent.`

Patented api-.2, i918.

,'Appiicanpn ined necemberis, 1917. seriainoeoeeaa To all LU/0m t may] concer/n.' K j Be it known that/l, Bancs 'Hummm a citizen of theVUnitedStates, residing` at lvashington, in" the District 'of Columbia, have invented new and useful mprm'ements in lRailm-iy` Crossings, ofI .which the following' is a specification. f j' This invention 'relateslto railway crossings, the broad object in view being to eliminate the 'gapsy in the rails at the points of intersection of the rails ofa railway crossing, which gaps ordinarily providev for the passage of the wheel flanges. By meansof the. `construction hereinafter described, the rails of the tracks inboth directions are rendered in effect"- 'continuous or unbroken,

such gaps being' eliminated. j

The construction involves' the use of small turn tabls at the intersecting pointsof 4the rails where'they cross eachother, combined with novel means Afor simultai'ieously operating said turntables, each of` whichV carries a rail section, suchsection of the rail being adapted to bebrought into alinement 'with therail, along whichfa caror af trainis moving. rlhe turn tables are automatically operated by tripping meansand connections which are in; turn actuated by contact' with the wheel iianges.` As the tripping mechanism is depressed by a car moving in one direction, Vthe tripping mechanism of the cross track is set inpositicn to be operated by a car moving' along' the cross track when it `approaches the crossing'. the entire mechanism being lthus automatic.

A further object of the invention is to adapt the mechanism tofan under-ground current system, so as to provide ample cleanl ance for themcurrent collector or shoe, which extends below thesnrface'of the roadway, for Contact with the electrical conductor.

With the above and .other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel construe-- tion, combination and arrangement of parts, as herein described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figurel is a. plan view a 'railroad crossing, illustratingV the present invention.

Fig. `2 is a vertical section on -the 'line 2*-2 of Fig..`l.

Fig. 3 is a plan View similar to Fig. 1, Shot-ins the System. as adapted. tel". wunder ground current railway.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section' on the line!" Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of one ofthe diagonal connecting rods.

Fig. 7 is a plan View, showing the mecha` nisin applied to a double track crossing.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to F '2 showing another arrangementv of the turn table operating means.

Referring` to the drawings, A-A represent the rails of onetrack, and B--B the rails of another track crossing' the iii-st named track. At each point of intersection betweenthe rails A and B, a turn table li is mounted, the same being adapted to turn on a vertical axis. Each turn table carries a `rail section c which may form either a continuation of the adjacent rail A. or the adjacent rail B, the extremities of the short rail'section a being adapted to abut against 0r lie in close Aproximity to the adjacent extremities of either the rail A or the rail B, thereby leaving' no grap or space between the extremities thereof, and enablingthe wheels of a car to pass along' the track without the vusual bounding` and consequent injury to the road bed.

In connection with each turn table, I employ operating means controlled by the advance wheels of the'car or locomotive as the case may be. Said means comprises in connection with each turn table.`a rock 'shaft 2 which extends under the rails 'and entirely across the track. Extending` upwardly from each rock shaft 2 are arms 3 arranged closely adjacent to the inner sides of the rails A and B. Pivotally connected to 'the upper extremity of each arm 3 is an inclined trip rail 4, adapted to be pressed downwardly by contact with the periphery of the flange of one of the car wheels. vThe lower end of the vinclined trip rail 4c has a projecting pin or lug 5 which slides along a horizontal guide way 6 in order to allow the arm 3 to swing downwardly. Extending' vfrom each yofl the arms 3 to the adjacent turn table l is a'conne'cting' rod 7 connectedto the arm 3 by a pivot Sand connected pivotally to the adjacent turn table as vshown at 9. As shown in Fig. 1, each turn tablehas connected thereto two of 'such connecting rods 7, one4 leading' to a rock shaft 2 of one trackand the other leading' to a rocksh'aft of the cross track. Under the arrangement just described, it will be seen that when a car or a train approaches the crossing on track A, for example, the arms 3 of both rock shafts of said track at opposite sides ot the crossing, are moved downwardly hereby shifting the short rail sections a into line with the rails A. Atl the same time, the rock shafts 2 of the other cross track B are moved to a substantially upright position, where they are ready to be operated by a car or train passing along the track B after the car or train has passed the crossing on the track A.

in applying the system to a road bed employing an underground electrical conductor, in order to provide for ample clearance for the shoe or current collector, utilize the construction shown in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive. ln such a case, each rock shaft 2 will be arranged in the bottom ofthe sul way yand journaled au its opposite ends in bearings 10. The shaft 2 is provided with downwardly extending arms 11 to which are pivotally attached, connecting rods 12, the latter extending upwardly above the ground, where they are connected to arms 3 eorrespending with the arms 3 of Fig. Q and having attached thereto, the inclined trip rails Ll. From each rock shaft 2", connecting` rods 7 extend to a pair of turn tables 1, each carrying a short rail section a corresponding with the rail section a. ot Fig. 1. Extending diagonally between the intersecting portions oi" the rails A and B and connecting diagonal opposite turn tables 1 is a trussed connecting rod 13, con'iprising two arms lil each shown as constructed ot down wardly diverging rods 15 and 16,' the rods 16 crossing each other and being united at 17, and the arms being further connected by a bottom brace 1S. This forms a light, strong connecting rod. Two of such connecting rods are employed as shown in the drawings and they provide an additional Yfactor of safety to prevent putting the mechanism out ot order in case one of the other connecting rods 7 or 7 should become broken tor any reason. @if course, each diagonal connecting rod 1-l is pivotally connected at its opposite extremities to two diagonally opposite turn tables.

ln Fig. 7, l have illustrated the system as applied to a double track road of the surface character shown in Fig. 1, it being, of course, understood, that the systeni may be equally well' yapplied to a doubletrack crossing by utilizing the construction shown in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive. Under the arrangement shown in Fig. 7, the diagonal connecting rods 14 may connectl with more than two turn tables as long as said turn Copies of this patent may be obtained for five. cents each, by addressing the tables are arranged in line with each other. A turn table 1 will, ot course, be employed at every point where the rails intersect. Each or the outer turn tables will be directly operated by one of the connecting rods 7 as in the preceding views.

Instead of employing a single arm 3 as shownV in Fig. 2, an additional arm 19 may be employed as shown in Fig. 8, the arm 19 being of the same length as the arm 3 and being pivotally mounted at 20. A. horizontal auxiliary rail Q1 is pivotally lconnected at one end to the arm 3 and is pivotally connected at its opposite end to the arm 19. The rail Zlalways lies below the surface of the railway rail a, andisalways maintained in a horizontal position. The flange of the car wheel rides upwardly on the inclined rail d and then travels throughout the length of the auxiliary horizontal rail 21,

thus insuring the proper turning movement for the turn table connected therewith.

1 claim:

1. In a railway crossing, the combination with the intersecting rails, of a turn table located at each point of intersection of the rails, a short rail section carried by said turn table and adapted to be turned `into line with either adjacent rail, an inclined trip rail adjacent to the inner face ot each track rail, a pivoted arm to which one end ot said trip rail `is attached, a rock shaft located adjacent to the bottom .of a subway between the track rails, arms projecting from said rock shaft, link rods connecting the rst and second named arms, and other connect ing` rods extending from the second named arms to the adjacent turn tables. j

2. In a railway crossing, the combination with the intersecting rails, of a turn table located at each point of intersection of the rails, a short rail section carried by said turn table and adapted to be turnedvinto line with either adjacent rail, an inclined trip rail adjacent to the inner tace ot each track rail, a pivoted arm to which one end of said trip rail is attached, a rock shaft located adjacent to the bottoni of a subway between the track rails, arms projecting from said rock shaft, link rods connecting the first and second named arms, other connecting rods eXzending` from the `second named arms tot-he adj acentturntables, and diagonal connecting rots pivotally attached to diagonally opposite turn tables,each oi the last named connecting rods being centrally depressed. y

1n testimony whereof I atliX my signature.

nanos airain/infn.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

